Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-07-16
worker snakes back. That was bone,

worker snakes back. That was bone,
but 1T van fast to the back. Runnin'
from the middle o. the under edge o. that
thin plate o bone, an fastened to it, wero
aroun' piece O sumpin' th't looked like q
lead pencil, only 'twerc bigger. That dis
appeared In the worker snake right at the
shoulder. Poorly soon yen see, Pelcg,
wa that apparatus were fer.
LONG in the last part O. April was the
time th't this family Of sarpints got ready
fer their seasons hatchin'. Then ye'd
see the drill snake, IN the worker snake
pickin' out their ground. Wen that were
foun' to suit 'em, the drill snake ID stiffen
hisself like an axe handle, give hisself a
spring up in the air, and come down with
his drill straight in the groun' and to its
full length. AS he struck, the weight of
his head ID drive the spring Of his tail end
down fiat, but in the tenth Of a second it
ID fly up to its place agin. That d throw
the drill snake up in the air, an he'd sail
ahead mebbe ten foot, wen down he'd
come agin, an SO on, ez long as he wanted
to. Wall, foMorin' right along a-ter the
drill snake come the splitter snake, twisted
in her pootty letter S shape. She'd sail up
to the fust hole her Oh man had drilled,
stop fer a second, shoot her head down to
the hole an spit an & inter 1t. Then
away she'd go to the next hole. Ifergot to
tell yc that she had three egg chambers.
One of EN- held the egg th't Matched the
drill snake, one held the splitter snake
eggs, an the third the worker snake eggs
cause, We see, they had to keep up n
sure supply O. each kind O. snake. In one
hole she'd spit one kind o. egg, another
kind in the next, and t'other kind In the
next, or all three TO wuns in one hole, IL
she wanted to. An SO she'd 80 on fol-
lerin' the drill snake ez he went leapin'
over the country, peggin' holes III the
ground fer her 10 spit In.
"Follerin' the splitter snake come the
worker snake, churnin' its way along fast
an easy. It'd stop at the fust hole the
splitter had been at, an then ye'd see
sumpin' funny. That sheet O thin bone ID
rinse up from the workers back, m ye'd
see th't wat l said looked like a lead pen
Gil were a handle fast to the bone, an
worked on a hinge at the snakes shoulder
an ye'd see at wunst th't the hull business
were ez complete a hoe an handle ez any
one could white out. Well, Peleg, the
worker would throw that littlo hoe ahead
OF itself, an it'd strike the ground on
t'other side the hole. Then the worker
d hump itself Q little, an pull the dirt
back with the hoe an kiver up the egg
th't had been spit in thar, an it were per
tected the slickest kind, an could 90 right
On a hatchin'. Then the worker d f0ller
on TO the next hole an the next jest eZ
long ez the driller and the splitter thort
best to keep up the plantin'. Mustn't
that ha' been o. funny sight, Peleg?"
eyes, gran'pop," replied little PeIeg,
with bullying eyes; "but what did they
make the worker snake SO fiat for2"
"Dzac'ly," said the Old Settler.
"'Dzac'ly. know'd ye'd asst me that,
Peleg. III tell we why the worker were
fGt. Natur' don't make no mistakes. Ye
see the drill snake were 80 heavy that he
couldn't swim, an it often happened in
their Journeys 'roun' the country th't they
had to cross rivers an ponds. 1t were
| part o. the duties o. the worker snake to
take the driller aboard of itself IN ferry
him over to t'other side, an that were the
reason the worker were built that way.
The hoe layin' on its back at them times
made Il bully sail, an helped the worker
on its voyage amazin'.
"Now this family O. sarpints were ez
docile ez~ elephants an ez harmless as GIN
ger pop. My poor oil father struck an
idce one day th't he see q good labor
savin' machine in them snakes, an he
kctched n family o young uns an trained
'em. The ncighbors hardly believed ii
the next spring, Wen they come to our
clearin' an sec a driller snake, q splitter
snake an n worker snake jist more th'n
d%rillin', an droppin' an kiyerin corn in
one o. our fields. My Of dad had tcached
'cin to do it. All he had to Go, artcr the
sarpints see wat were 'spected Of 'em,
were to fill the splitter snakes egg cham
bers with corn an start 'em cut, an away
they'd 60. They could drill, drop n II
kiver more Germ ground III n day than
ten men could in a week. l don't see
wat in the world they ever let setch q
race o'-but sh-h-h! Peleg! Here's yer
granmamny''
But Peleg was asleep, and when Maria
came in the Old Settler was deep in the
columns of The Clarion Blast of Free
dom.-Ed. Mott in New York Sun.